Orissa is awaiting the accreditation of its certification agency- Orissa State Seeds and Organic Products Certification Agency (OSSOPCA) for promoting organic farming in the state in a big way. “Our certification agency- OSSOPCA is under the process of accreditation of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). This will be a major milestone for getting our organic areas under certification program for better market strategy. Post harvest technology...

The governing body of a United Nations-backed treaty considered vital for the preservation and use of the world’s threatened plant genetic resources met in Bali, Indonesia, today to map out a future course in the face of food insecurity and climate change. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, adopted at the Conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2001 and backed by 127...

“We live in a society governed by the rule of law; and we shall have to proceed as per law” I-T department recovered undisclosed income of Rs.25,000 crore in the last 24 months Amid the hue and cry on the “black money” circulating within the country and abroad, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday announced the setting up of a group to quantify the black money being generated. “As soon as the report...

India’s Supreme Court has questioned clearances to industries on the basis of environment impact assessments (EIAs) carried out by private consultants in the pay of project proponents. A special bench of the court led by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, that is hearing a petition challenging approvals granted to the French company Lafarge to mine limestone, likened the practice to "paying the piper to call the tune." Kapadia’s bench noted that every report...

The oldest and most common dig against organic agriculture is that it cannot feed the world’s citizens; this, however, is a supposition, not a fact. And industrial agriculture isn’t working perfectly, either: the global food price index is at a record high, and our agricultural system is wreaking havoc with the health not only of humans but of the earth. There are around a billion undernourished people; we can also...